Message-ID: <199703312036.MAA23981@cdp.igc.apc.org> Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 12:36:25 -0800 From: Tom Gray <mailto:tomgray@IGC.ORG> Subject: --Bergey in IBRD Project To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
BERGEY TURBINES IN BRAZIL UNDER WORLD BANK PROJECTBergey Windpower Co., of Norman, Okla., is supplying four 1.5-kW wind turbines to locations in two northeastern Brazilian states for rural water pumping applications, the company said.
Two of the machines are already installed and the others are en route to Brazil as part of the Programa de Apoio ao Pequeno Produtor Rural (PAPP) (Support Program for the Small Rural Producer), which is funded by the World Bank.
The first turbine was erected in July in the village of Assu in Rio Grande Norte, to provide community water supply. The machine drives a 10-stage submersible pump and is equipped with two five-cubic-meter storage tanks, with a design goal of delivering 20 cubic meters of water per day. The overall system cost is about $35,000, including the tanks and piping.
The installation eliminates the need to carry drinking water for people and animals and wash water to the village from the nearest source, which is five kilometers away. The other three turbines will be installed at three separate locations near Mirandiba in the state of Pernambuco and will also be used for community water supply.
In the past, it has proven difficult to arrange financing for small-scale energy projects within multilateral development bank programs, particularly those of the World Bank. The banks have large quantities of money committed to loans and limited numbers of officers to oversee the loans, and therefore their minimum loan amount tends to be in the millions or tens of millions of dollars. Identifying a niche within such a program, even one designed to help small agricultural producers like the PAPP program, can be a lengthy and bureaucratic process that is difficult for a small manufacturer to pursue.
Mike Bergey, president of Bergey Windpower, credited AWEA and the U.S. Export Council for Renewable Energy (US-ECRE) with assisting the company: "AWEA and US-ECRE staff met with program review people in Brazil and at the World Bank to make sure that small-scale renewables were eligible for the program. That opened the door and allowed our local agent to pursue the projects.
"Everyone knows that small-scale projects are relatively expensive in terms of both time and money to pull off, and that an initial project may not be profitable. But they are good entry points, and of course, the hope is that there will be many more similar projects in the future."
Greater familiarity with wind on the part of Brazilian officials also played a role, Bergey said: "Because of some earlier pilot projects we have had in Brazil, there is a much higher comfort level with small wind turbines and water pumping than in the past."
For further information, contact Bergey Windpower Co., 2001 Priestley, Norman, OK 73069, USA, phone (405) 364-4212, fax (405) 364-2078, e-mail <mailto:mbergey@bergey.com>.
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